Recent traffic crash data reveals disturbing trends in roadway fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Fata Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the National Safety Council (NSC).
· Drunk driving crashes represent one-third of fatalities.
· One-half of all vehicle occupants killed were not wearing seat belts.
· Deaths of motorcyclists without helmets were far higher in states without strong helmet laws.
· Distracted driving accounted for 10 percent of all crash fatalities.
· Speeding was a factor in more than one in four deaths.
· In about 94 percent of crashes the critical cause was a human factor, not a vehicle factor.
· Texting while driving raises the likelihood of a crash by eight times, and crashes involving texting or talking on a cellphone (hands-free or handheld) account for 27 percent of all accidents.